People on here refer to that plastic thing as a "dork disc". I just learned that not long ago as I still consider myself a newbie! hehe!

hhmmm... did you check to see that all the spacers are there? There is usally a spacer between each gear. Maybe you forgot one? Did you try tightening up the lock thing on the cassette all the way? (again, me = newbie as I don't know the name of the part that keeps the cassette in place.)

Not sure if I was helpful but hoepfully you can figure it out soon!

Good luck!

This day will be over... one of these days!

"I have cancer, cancer doesn't have me."
Quote from a Kaiser commercial that reminds me of my mom.

Companies put them on to keep idiots who don't get their bikes tuned (or tune them themselves) from experiencing terminal chain suck.

Guess what idiot almost ripped all the spokes out of his rear wheel on the way home after reading this post!!! The same idiot who removed his "dork disc" because it was aged and brittle. Guess I'd better be a little more careful setting those limit screws...

Companies put them on to keep idiots who don't get their bikes tuned (or tune them themselves) from experiencing terminal chain suck.

Chain suck refers to the chain getting wedged between the chainrings and the chainstay when attempting to shift to the granny ring (the chain doesn't come off of the middle ring like it should). It jams the cranks, can damage the chainstay, and is no fun at all, but it doesn't have anything to do with a spoke protector..........Even if the limit screws are adjusted correctly there's a use for spoke protectors, I've seen rear wheels have spokes broken when the rear derailleur gets snapped off (talking mountain biking here) and then gets thrashed into the spokes, a spoke protector might have helped. With that said, though, I haven't had one on any of my bikes for years-